Nissan Micra K10 - Classic Car Enthusiasts Best Kept JDM Secret

If you're looking for an affordable, ‘modable’, timelessly cool vehicle with a punchy little engine to match, then boy have I got the car for you.

Somewhere between pages of automotive history, (probably written on an oil-stained napkin pressed between the Datsun 240z and the Nissan Bluebird), there’s the Nissan Micra (or March, depending on where you are) K10.

Designed by Datsun in the early 80s to compete with the likes of the Golf, Nova, and the Ford Fiesta, the K10 became the not so hot hatch that everyone wanted. By everyone, of course, I mean Margret - 68, looking for a mobile Whinnie the Pooh plushie storage unit that could maybe run to the newsagents if it was raining.

Before long, the K10 was picked up by driving schools that needed a cheap, easy to drive car that could take the punishment of an inexperienced driver. The k10 played this role dutifully and without complaint for decades, with only the odd diversion from the norm such as the March super turbo.

What we have here folks, is the perfect recipe;

Take a simple Japanese car, add a heap of retro styling, a dash of good economy, a spoonful of elderly owners, and just a pinch of boring reputation. Add nostalgia to taste and bake for approx 30 years, or until lowered. The end product is a fun, cheap car, easily found with low mileage and often completely stock.

Modifications

Naturally, K10s don’t tend to stay stock for long. An impeccably clean example shouldn't set you back more than £1500, with mod ready beaters as low as £450, giving you a licence to build your K10 into whatever you want it to be.

The raw simplicity of the MA10 0r MA12 engines and manual 4-speed gearbox make mechanical work a joy, while the suspension system lends itself to lowering, and the angular bodywork takes wings and wide arches in a real rocket bunny kind of way.

Some would argue that heavily modifying an almost classic car would be a really bad move, eating away at the historical value of the vehicle, and damaging any potential resale value. In most cases, they would be right. For the K10 however, they couldn't be more wrong.

Some stunning examples of modified K10s have been created in the last ten years, some with iconic two-tone paintwork, wing-mounted mirrors, wide arches accommodating retro rims and super-wide tyers, alongside Engine swaps that shoot the original 88mph top speed in the lower-powered model, to frankly terrifying heights. There are more mods than I could reasonably list here, but there is a place full of weird, wonderful, and badass k10’s for you to drool over.

Community

In the age of social media, almost all cars, new and old, have some form of an owners club, and the k10 is no exception. It seems though, that like the car, k10 clubs are something a little different. With the k10 still overlooked by the general classic car community, k10 club members share a special bond in keeping the cars alive. As an owner, it's not unusual to find a complimentary note on your windscreen from a passing member, or a photo of your k10 on the group Facebook pages with mostly friendly comments and genuine excitement in spotting another modified Micra.

More than anything, fellow owners mostly want to keep as many k10s going as possible. The inevitable barn finds and cars casualty to time are never wasted. while you’d struggle to find a new engine in a scrapyard nowadays, the folks in the k10 clubs will have you covered. So for the most part, parts are never too much of a worry either.

Despite starting out as a pensioner’s A to B, K10s have been made into race cars, rally cars, sleepers and slam mobiles. They spit flames from behind and power from the front. They fit seamlessly in lineups of vintage skylines and 240z’s, they’re easy to drive and easy to modify. The K10 is truly a modern classic for the modern age, and I sincerely hope that they stay a secret, stay affordable, and stay accessible, because it’s cars like these that create race drivers, top tier mechanics, and will keep the joy of real driving alive for decades to come.